Title: Chain Of Fools

Author: Tinnean

Fandom: The Big Chill

Pairing: Harold/Nick

Rating: PG-13

Feedback email: Tinneantoo@aol.com

Date: 1/2001

Sequel: to Yesterday, When We Were Young

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. They belong to Lawrence Kasdan.

Archive: If I sent it to you, please feel free. Otherwise, just let me know so I can go look and admire.

Summary: Harold is ready to commit, but Nick is not.

Warnings: m/m, minor spoilers for the movie

It was a warm morning, late in June. Time to relish being young and having the world by the tail. Time to beat his chest and howl in sheer satisfaction.

Time to make plans.

Harold opened sated eyes and indulged the rare opportunity to study his lover as his stood, unselfconsciously naked, by the window of his dorm room. With graduation just hours past, they
would need to pack soon and vacate the premises, but not yet.

"So. What are the plans for today, babe?"

Nick turned to face him, banishing the disquiet from his eyes before the other man could see it and question him. His expression wiped smooth, he gave Harold his patented cocky grin.

"The plans?" Nick repeated carelessly.

This was the Nick who drove his friends crazy with his inconsiderate behavior. Karen was no longer able to tolerate it, and had recently broken up with him, rather messily, their little group was forced to agree.

****

Harold had been secretly delighted. With Sarah spending more and more time comforting Alex over the loss of his fellowship, he was able to explore the delightful venues that Nick opened to him.

Each time they were together, he became a little more daring, and Nick let him proceed at his own pace, going from dry humping through their clothes to hands on naked flesh to thirsty mouths.
Finally, the night before, Nick had slid his lubricated cock into Harold's ass for the very first time, and his friend had gone wild in his arms.

Sarah had never made him feel like that. He didn't know if she ever could.

But with his education completed, and Sarah having to go on to med school, Harold was determined to end their relationship.

He was pretty sure he was falling in love with Nick, and he was going to ask him to come out to the property that had been in his family for generations. They could do some work on the old house and decide if they should break it to his family that they were a couple.

Nick was alone; the closest thing he had to family was their circle of friends. Harold was determined to correct that. He came from a large, boisterous family that he was certain would be more than happy to embrace the lanky Chicagoan.

****

Now Harold was starting to feel uneasy. For the first time since they had become lovers, Nick's callous attitude was aimed directly at him. "Yeah, you know, I suggest something to do, and you either agree or you make a suggestion of your own. Those kinds of plans?"

"Don't think so, babe. I'm blowing this pop stand!"

Nick turned and walked into his own room. Harold hesitated a minute, then followed him. He hovered in the doorway as his lover began throwing clothes into an old dufflebag that had been with
him since his first day at Northwestern. "What's wrong, Nick?"

"What could be wrong, Ha? School's over, it's time to go home."

"I thought you might...come home with me."

Nick huffed snidely. "Go home with you? What, you were going to introduce me to your parents as your boyfriend?"

Harold flushed with embarrassment. That was exactly what he had planned.

"Grow up, Harold. It's a cold world out there, and we're about to go head first out into it!"

He pulled on a snug pair of jeans and left them gaping open as he searched for a clean top to go over it. "Listen, Ha. What we had was fun, but it wasn't real."

"Nick..." Harold's mouth was dry and he swallowed hard. He had seen how Nick behaved when his girlfriends tried to hang on after he decided it was time to go. His lips trembled, and he struggled to firm them. "What about last night?"

"What about last night? Look, Harold, I don't want to be cruel, but I got what I wanted from you."

"I'm your friend, Nick."

Nick pulled on a pair of socks.

"I'll always be your friend!"

"So?"

"Tell me you don't want me anymore!"

"I don't want you anymore." The silence was so thick it was like a suffocating blanket. When Nick looked up, Harold was gone.

Nick's eyes were shiny with unshed tears. The nails of one hand were digging deep into his palm, leaving little crescent shapes in the bruised flesh. In his other hand was the crumpled notice he had found waiting for him when they got in the evening before.

The one that started, "Greetings from Uncle Sam..."

~End~